Unwound
by Annaleise Marie
Summary: The usual suspects are members of rival bands. After a catastrophe at their label, the two bands are forced to hide out...together. Pitted against each other since their debuts, could any good come of a situation like this? Written for the Battle of the Band Fics with Lupinista. Canon pairings. [Lemons, language, mild violence.]
1. The Leak

**Unwound**  
Annaleise Marie

**Summary**: Bella and Alice are lead singers for rival bands. After a catastrophe at their label, the two bands are forced to hide out...together. Pitted against each other since their debuts, could any good come of a situation like this? Written for the Battle of the Band Fics with **Lupinista**.

**Warnings**: Lemons, language, mild violence... All the usual that you get with my stories.

**Chapter One**: The Leak

**AN**: So this idea has actually been rattling around in my head for a few years, and after talking to Lupinista, I decided to go on with it. She's also writing a band-centric fic, and we decided to write ours at the same time. Cool beans, yeah? So after you read this, don't forget to check hers out!

I should mention that I have no talent for song writing. No copyright infringement intended, and credit where credit is due: The songs for Burnt Vermillion are the property of The Ting Tings, and the songs for Seattle Thorn are the property of Florence + the Machine. I wrote none of them, and I don't pretend to.

Also, I want to mention that though the main pairing in this story is B/E, all pairings will be fairly represented. :)

I also don't own Twilight. That should be pretty obvious since this is a fanfiction. But yeah, I'm not making any money. Which sucks. But alas, that's the law, and I follow it.

Hope you enjoy!

X

**EmPOV**

I hate flying. When flying consumes half of your life, it stops being such a novelty and becomes a chore. I could remember the first time I had ever been on a plane. I was barely eighteen. Burnt Vermillion had finally made it, and we were being flown across the country to record in New York. I was excited as shit, man, I'll tell you.

And now I lived most of my life out of a suitcase, hopping from venues to hotels to god-knows-what-else to - you guessed it - airports.

The excitement had sort of worn off.

But I was finally going home. We had just cut our last track for our new album, and while Jasper, Bella, and Leah were sticking around to check out the sights in New York, I was battling my way through JFK for a non-stop flight back to Arizona.

I had just reached the security checkpoint when my phone rang. I did a sort of double-take between my phone and the ATF officer. Were you allowed to answer the phone at a checkpoint?

The call rolled to voicemail as I considered it and I shrugged and tossed the phone in the bin. Before I could step through the metal detector, though, it rang again. The ATF officer raised his eyebrows at me. I shrugged, trying to look nonchalant. An over-insistent caller couldn't be grounds for suspicion of terrorism, could it?

After a moment he waved me through the detector. I passed through it without trouble. I was well-versed in airport security by this point. When I claimed my shoes, phone, and wallet from the other officer at the end of the conveyor belt, I realized I now had four missed calls. Two from Bella, one from Jasper, and one from Carlisle, our manager.

I decided to call Bella back first. Jasper had more patience so he would wait, and Carlisle was... Well... Carlisle was Carlisle. He's a difficult guy to explain. Plus, Bella was my little sister and she'd probably be pretty offended if I called anyone else back first.

"Emmett!" she answered on the first ring, sounding panicked.

"Whoa, Bells, you okay?" I stopped short, surprised by the urgency in her voice. Bella was usually a pretty calm person. Until something went really wrong. Then she was a fucking force of nature.

Someone smacked into me, not expecting my sudden halt in the middle of the crowded airport, and I turned to mutter an apology.

"It's fine." The girl blushed deeply. "I _love_ your new album by the way."

I was momentarily distracted from the call. "Hold on, Bells." I dropped the phone to my side. "What?"

"I just heard it today. I mean, obviously. It's really great! I can't wait for your tour!" The girl was rambling. It was something that I was pretty used to, and I had gotten pretty good at translating excited-fan-chatter over the years, but this was making no sense to me. "Do you mind if I get a picture with you?"

"Uh... Sure." I didn't usually agree to that sort of thing when I was travelling alone. It drew too much attention, and I usually tried to blend in. Which was actually kind of funny, considering my sheer size alone. But she had confused me, and I didn't know what else to say.

The girl handed her phone to someone - it might've been her mom - and I forced a smile as she took the picture.

"It was so great to meet you. I can't wait to tell my friends!" she squealed, and then scurried off.

I let out a sigh of relief. Sometimes girls like her tended to stick around, and it got a little irritating. It took a moment, in my confusion and relief, to remember that Bella was still on the phone, waiting.

"Hey, the weirdest thing just happened," I told her as I started off again. "This girl just told me she loved our new album? I mean, I know sometimes people don't realize how old tracks can be by the time they get popular, but I mean, this is only our second release, and she said she just heard it today _obviously_."

"Emmett, you need to come back now!" Bella's voice was tight, worried.

"Are you okay? What's wrong?" I asked, worry starting to replace the confusion.

"The new album...every track...it's been leaked."

X

**APOV**

I was stretched out by the pool when I got the call. We had finally finished recording, and I had planned to spend a few hard-earned days relaxing and tanning, and pretending I had nothing to do with _that world_. Even if I _was_ in LA.

Seattle Thorn had started as a pet project for me and my best friend in college, Edward Masen. He worked part time in this speak-easy inspired piano bar. I used to hang out during his shifts because I had a late class nearby, and then he'd walk me to my apartment after he got off. It was nice, because I'm really little, and it always made me nervous to move around the city alone at night.

Then one night he played "Blueberry Hill" by Fats Domino. I was sitting at the bar, and the place was nearly empty, so I started to sing along. It turned out the guy sitting a few stools down was the owner, and he liked my voice, so he hired me to sing with Edward's playing. We did that all through college, and eventually we hooked up with Rose and Jacob, taking a few gigs on the weekends for parties and such for extra cash. Every last one of us were the starving artist types, so it came in handy while we discovered our degrees were essentially worth nothing.

_That_ was a bummer.

About a year into the gigs and parties, we were approached by Esme Platt, a representative of a small, but successful, label called Unwound Records.

The rest is history.

We debuted at the top of the charts in May 2011. We went platinum. Well, us and another Unwound band, Burnt Vermillion.

But that's another story for another time.

So there I was, celebrating the completion of our second album by doing absolutely nothing for what felt like the first time in two years. The album wouldn't officially drop for another two months, and for the next month we all had a sort of vacation before the interviews and promos began. Life was good.

And then my phone rang.

"Have you heard this shit yet?" Rose greeted me as soon as I picked up the phone.

I sighed and rolled over to my stomach. "I don't know what you're talking about. You know you _called_ me? I'm not actually _with_ you."

"Shut it, smartass." Rose had next to no patience. Ever. "Listen."

I strained to hear through the phone.

_'Cause they took your loved ones  
But returned them in exchange for you  
But would you have it any other way?  
Would you have it any other way?  
You couldn't have it any other way_

_'Cause she's a cruel mistress  
And a bargain must be made  
But oh, my love, don't forget me  
I let the water take me_

I sat up, startled. That was _my_ voice. That was our song! "Is that... Where are you?"

"That's the thing! I'm in my car! That's the _radio_, Alice!"

"How did they get that? Did Esme release a promo already?"

"No, I already asked her. Apparently there's been this whole big thing at Unwound. A server's been hacked. We've been leaked."

X

**CPOV**

"Have they been notified?"

I looked up to find Esme standing in the door to my office. I nodded and she glided into the room. And I mean glided. She always displayed an incredible amount of grace, even in the smallest things. It was one of the things I loved most about her.

She sat on the edge of my desk, crossing her legs. She was teasing me, and I knew it. But I didn't allow myself to touch her. The office wasn't the place for that. We had both made it this far by maintaining distance in the public eye. And now, especially, the bands we represented needed us to be careful.

This would only work out if we could play off of the animosity between Burnt Vermillion and Seattle Thorn.

"Carlisle?" She broke into my thoughts, reaching out to touch my shoulder gently.

"Hmm?"

"I said it's probably time to get on with this, isn't it? We need to get them all moved." She smiled that soft, sweet smile that I loved. It was hard to believe, looking at her face, what that mind of hers could come up with.

I nodded and reached out to hit a random key on my keyboard, waking up my desktop. "The Forks property?"

Esme nodded. "They're not going to like it."

"They don't have much of a choice." I shrugged as I accessed the airline's website. Esme watched, tapping her company credit card on my desk as she waited.

X

**BPOV**

As soon as Carlisle had managed to round up Jasper and Leah, and Emmett had made it from JFK to Unwound's offices, we were all corralled into Carlisle's office. We all knew by this point what had happened, but I guess Carlisle thought there needed to be an official announcement or something. Very by-the-books, Carlisle.

"So by now you've all heard that there's been a leak," he said as soon as he shut the door behind us before moving to sit behind his desk. All business, as usual. The familiarity of his behavior was somehow unsettling for me, with the exceptional circumstances we had encountered.

"It's every track? _Everything?_" Leah asked.

Jasper nodded and pulled out his phone. "I downloaded it on the way here. It's not just the music, either. It includes all of our album art."

Carlisle nodded tensely. "It's bigger than that, even. Twelve bands had their new albums stored on our server, ready to drop in the next two months. They've all been leaked."

I shook my head, my mind reeling. All of that work. The last _year_ of our lives. Nothing to show for any of it. "How did this happen?"

"The tech guys are working on it. We don't know anything for sure yet." Carlisle looked weary. I could imagine that this was a lot of stress for him. It was hard to feel sorry for him, though, through my own disappointment.

Emmett put his arm around me and I leaned into him, closing my eyes and breathing deeply. "What do we do now? Can you stop the spread of the album? This is piracy, right?"

Carlisle shook his head. "It spread through person-to-person sharing software. The original user is probably long gone, and I doubt we could even track them down if they hadn't. Those sites are all but anonymous. The word got out on blogs and social sites, and the first amendment protects those. This is completely out of control, and a leak of this size is completely unprecedented in this industry."

Leah sighed, slumping down in her chair. Leah was tall and thin, with a sharp face and well-defined features. Everything about the way she held herself screamed pride. She was intimidating, a look that fit her well as our bassist. Now, though, she just looked defeated. "So what do we do now?"

"We're still figuring that out." Carlisle opened a drawer in his desk and pulled out an envelope. "For now, we're putting all of the bands involved in a black-out state. Until we figure out how we're going to handle this, we need you all completely out of the public eye."

"You're putting us on lock-down?" Emmett gaped at Carlisle.

"More like...house arrest. It's just temporary." I guess Carlisle's words were supposed to be comforting, but they didn't come across that way. "You'll be staying at one of the Unwound properties. Yours is in a town called Forks, Washington. It's small, but you'll be well out of the public eye there."

He handed the envelope to Emmett, who opened it to show a stack of plane tickets and a printout of an address and directions from Sea-Tac airport.

"I've gotta go back to the airport?" Emmett groaned.

I patted his arm sympathetically. "I need time to get Renesmee ready. She's at the hotel with Angela."

Renesmee... Renesmee was conceived after our debut. She was the reason we had taken a year off from touring and recording between albums. I loved her to death and I wouldn't trade her for anything, but her existence was...complicated.

The label had bent over backwards to be accommodating despite the poor timing of my pregnancy and her birth. I guess when you're a platinum-selling artist, you get perks like that. They had given us our time off, despite the pressure to produce a follow-up album, and they had even found me an excellent nanny, Angela Weber. Angela was a twenty-two year old, fresh out of college with a degree in early child education, and "Nessie", as everyone had nicknamed her against my wishes, loved her like crazy.

"You need to be quick. The media has already gotten hold of the story, and we need to get you guys out of here," Carlisle said.

I nodded and stood up. Emmett stood as well, following me out. I felt like a little kid again, completely unsure of everything, with my big brother watching over me. It was nice, and a little crippling at the same time. This album was supposed to be the comeback, my own proof that I had made it, that what had happened hadn't broken me.

And now here we were. With nothing to show.

X

**EPOV**

We arrived at Sea-Tac pretty early in the day, considering most of us were still in LA. Rose would be arriving after us, since she had already been on her way to visit her family in Seattle. We had passed her in the air, but I was sure it she wasn't far behind, the way she drove.

Alice was in rare form. She seemed to have taken the leak as a personal insult. I mean, don't get me wrong, it sucked. But Esme had told us that eleven other bands had albums leaked, as well. I highly doubted they had done that to cover up a personal attack on any of us.

Against her will, Alice had kept her word and stayed quiet about the situation during the flight, but once we had all piled into the rental car to begin the two-hour drive to Forks, where we were to hide out until Unwound "figured something out", she completely lost it.

"...poured my damned heart and soul and probably a spleen into those songs!"

"And that one chorus! Did they think it was _easy_? Strained my voice, couldn't talk for days..."

"I swear if I ever figure out who's responsible, I'm going to..."

"Why would someone do this to me?!"

"...feed their entrails to a pack of wild dogs. Swear to God."

She could be a bit of a diva. Generally, Alice was really sweet. But she just took everything so personally.

But then, women were like that, I guessed.

We finally found the address, thanks to our guitar player, Jacob, who had family near the area, and piled out of the car. It was a good thing we had him, too, because we never would have found this place, otherwise. It was way up in the woods, following a winding mountain road.

The first thing I noticed was a sleek black SUV parked in the driveway.

"What was Rose driving?" I asked Alice.

She shrugged. "She didn't say. But that's a Denali. Rose has an Escalade."

We made our way cautiously up the front walk to the porch and then hesitated before knocking. Were we supposed to knock? Who knows.

After a moment the door opened to reveal the very last person I expected - or would ever hope - to see.

"Oh, fuck no!" Emmett McCarty swore before slamming the door in our faces.

X

**AN**: So. Thoughts? Comments? Questions? I'd love to hear from you guys!


	2. Princess Words

**Unwound**  
Annaleise Marie

**Chapter Two**: Princess Words

**AN**: Thanks so much to everyone who's showed an interest in this story so far! I hope you'll stick with me, and I hope you enjoy the ride! It's going to be a bumpy one.

This chapter features an OC of sorts. **Lupinista** appears as her generally fantastic self. Having said that, I still don't own anything, as she's her own person and I don't own her. Also, the section that she appears in uses Twitter messages, but FFn doesn't support the "at" symbol, so I apologize if it looks wonky. So anyway, let's get to it, yes?

X

**JPOV**

We arrived at the Forks house in the afternoon, thanks to Carlisle arranging for a non-stop flight to reduce the risk we would be spotted by the media. The house was huge, the front made up almost completely of windows. I raised my eyebrows when I saw it. It didn't seem like the most private place. Not that I was altogether too concerned about anyone tracking us into the middle of nowhere anyway.

Nessie took to it immediately and spent the first couple of hours running around on her chubby little two-year-old legs, nearly giving Bella a fit when she got too close to a creek that ran behind the house, and driving poor Angela to near-exhaustion by the time she finally wound down enough to nap.

The leak had made Bella anxious, I could tell. So when she dismissed Angela to take a nap, saying that she would keep an eye on Nessie in case she woke up, I offered to do it instead. Bella looked ready to cry and just nodded silently at the offer before handing over the toddler and disappearing to some other part of the house.

I wasn't altogether too surprised. Bella had worked hard on the album. She had written all of the songs, unlike the first, when the rest of us had thrown in. Hell, even Emmett had contributed a few songs - a fact which was a constant joke with the rest of us, as "Fruit Machine" and "Traffic Light" had both bombed spectacularly.

But this album... It had been Bella's baby...so to speak. It was _her_ project. Most of the songs were about the time during our absence, which was all down to her. And now she had nothing to show for it.

Well, that wasn't true. People would still hear it. Really, if this leak was spun correctly, more people would probably listen to it than would have otherwise. But still, she didn't get her moment. She didn't get to promote it or hype it up, or revel in the unveiling. It was just suddenly out there.

I curled up on the couch with Nessie, turning the TV on and lowering the volume quickly so as not to wake her up. The news was reporting the leak. The _actual_ news, not E! or something. Must've been a slow news day. Of course, with so many bands affected, I guess that was a lot of product. It would probably plummet stocks or something. So maybe it _was_ real news.

I changed the channel to a rerun of some sitcom and I must've half-drifted off, because the next thing I knew it was an hour later and there was a knock on the door.

I saw Emmett cut from the kitchen, past the staircase, and open the door. I thought about warning him to check who it was first, but then dismissed the idea. Anyone who would find us out here would probably have a real reason to be here. Besides, I didn't think the paparazzi were going to be so kind as to knock when there were plenty of windows to peer through.

"Oh, fuck no!" I heard Emmett shout, followed by the slamming of the door. Nessie started awake. She looked disgruntled, but she didn't start screaming. I was _really_ glad she was past that stage.

"What happened?" I asked, sitting up.

Emmett came stomping into the room, his eyes wide. "You're never going to guess who's on the fucking porch."

"_Language_," I warned.

Nessie glared at Emmett. "That's not a princess word." The admonishment was somehow dulled by the fact that Nessie couldn't make the "r" sound.

Emmett just stared at her for a second. "Yeah, well, your uncle's not a princess, is he?"

The door opened and closed. I raised an eyebrow at Emmett as he cursed under his breath. The next second three people walked into the living room, looking every bit as confused as me and angry as Emmett.

X

**EPOV**

We stood out on the porch for a minute, surprised by what had happened, before Alice put a tentative hand out and twisted the knob. The door swung open and we walked in. Jacob closed the door behind us.

"What's Burnt Vermillion doing here?" Alice hissed, her eyes narrowed.

I shrugged. "Your guess is as good as mine."

We headed into what turned out to be the living room to find ourselves face-to-face with Emmett once again. Jasper Whitlock, the band's guitarist, was sitting on the couch, a girl who couldn't have been more than three sitting beside him. That surprised me. I didn't remember any of them having kids. Or at least, they didn't when we toured together to promote our debut albums.

What a nightmare.

Well, it wasn't so much at the time, at least not for me. But what followed was pretty ghastly.

"There must have been some mistake." Jasper was the first to break the silence. "I'm gonna call Carlisle."

He stood and gathered up the kid before disappearing into the next room. I wanted to ask if she was his, but it felt weird. We weren't exactly friends, any of us. This wasn't really the time to just be catching up.

"So I guess you guys got leaked too?" Alice asked softly. She was really too nice for her own good most of the time. She didn't particularly _like_ any of them. But there had always just been something inside of her that stopped her from voicing thoughts like that.

Emmett just glared at her but didn't answer.

Jacob scoffed. "Tragedy."

"Excuse me?" Emmett's eyes were still narrowed, but now his attention was fixed on Jacob.

"I mean, it's not exactly like you guys put out anything substantial." Jacob shrugged. "I mean, it's cute and fun and all, but it's not, you know, actually good."

I closed my eyes, waiting for the blast. There was really no need for Jacob to say that. Even if it _was_ true.

"Just because we don't need a full orchestra for a show—" Emmett's calm voice surprised me, but when I opened my eyes, that kid was clinging to his leg, swaying slightly on unsteady toddler legs. So he was keeping his cool for _her_ benefit. Interesting.

I remembered Emmett as being very hot-headed, quick to anger. And his little display at the door had done nothing to disabuse me of that idea. To see him holding back was somehow novel.

"Yeah, well, that's music, isn't it?" Jacob crossed his arms defiantly. "I mean, _actual_ music, you know? Then again, _you_ might not be able to recognize it."

Emmett was visibly shaking with anger by this point. I opened my mouth to tell Jacob to cut it out, but Alice beat me to it.

"I don't know, their new album isn't bad..." She frowned a little, her brow furrowed slightly. "Or, at least it finally convinced me that Bella might be able to actually _sing_ instead of screech."

"Well, _that_ was uncalled for."

We all looked around to find Jasper standing in the doorway, his phone in hand, a decided frown pulling down the corners of his mouth. Oddly, though, there was a strange glint of amusement in his eyes. "I hope you don't feel the same way about _my_ vocals."

"I did like that they were more prominent in the new release." Alice's tone was begrudging but she looked slightly flushed.

"Yeah, well, anyway..." Jasper held up his phone. "You guys are gonna love this. The label has 'limited properties suited for this purpose'. Everyone who got leaked is being doubled up. We're pretty good and stuck with each other."

"Oh _fuck_ no." Emmett finally lost his temper. "I'm _not_ staying with these assholes."

"Princess words." It was the first time I had heard the toddler speak. She sounded determined, even if what she said made no sense.

"I'm not a fucking princess," Emmett grunted, but his hand came down to tousel her hair reassuringly. "Your mom has _got_ to find another way to explain that shit to you."

"Maybe you should've just tought her earmuffs." I clapped my hands over my ears to demonstrate.

"She's not mine, dumbass." Emmett took a deep breath, trying to compose himself. "She's my neice."

"Wait. So this kid is Bella's?" My head started to swim. No way was this kid Bella's. She hadn't had a kid when we toured together back then, and that was almost three years ago. This kid looked about three, but she must be younger. Which probably meant...

I should've known. I should've fucking known. She was way too fucking easy. No wonder she hadn't answered my calls after the tour. She didn't give a shit about me. She probably had a laundry list of guys she was fucking.

Emmett nodded. I shook my head and looked at the floor. I didn't trust myself to say any more. No one else knew about our...affair, I guess you'd call it. It wasn't love, and it wasn't a relationship. _Obviously_.

"Maybe we could trade with someone." Even as she suggested it, Alice's voice was doubtful. And she was probably right. Esme probably wouldn't be all for us moving again.

"Let's just find our rooms," Jacob said, seeming to arrive at the same conclusion. "Are there even that many rooms?"

"There are six. Bella, Angela, and Nessie are in one, Leah's in one, and Emmett and I each have one." Jasper shrugged. "We got here first. You two will have to double up, and Alice can have a room."

"We've also got Rose coming," Alice pointed out.

Emmett groaned. "Great. Cause things weren't bad enough already, now that bitch..."

"I'd really love it if you didn't talk about my best friend that way." Alice glared at him.

It was pretty common knowledge that Emmett and Rose couldn't be the same _state_ without causing some shit with each other. I had no idea how it was supposed to work with them in the same _house_.

"She could sleep by the curb with the rest of the trash," Emmett suggested innocently, shrugging.

"Do you think I won't whip you because I'm small?" Alice demanded, stepping forward. I grabbed her by the arm reflexively.

"Seriously, Emmett, that was kind of low," Jasper admonished, but he seemed to be holding back laughter.

Emmett shrugged and bent over to pick up Bella's kid before heading for the stairs. "Whatever. You guys can figure it out. I'm done. I just want to wait this out and get on with my life."

An awkward silence followed his departure. Finally Jasper cleared his throat. "Well. This should be interesting."

X

**BPOV**

After the day we'd had, I wanted nothing more than to sleep. Potentially forever. Logically, I knew I couldn't do that. I had responsibilities and all of that. But logic had no place in my desires.

I had barely drifted off when Emmett came bursting through my bedroom door, waking Angela. Angela always woke up really quickly, ever since the time Nessie had managed to climb out of her crib and fall to the floor. She wasn't seriously hurt, but she wailed for hours, and Angela had been absolutely positive that I was going to fire and sue her. Now she wakes up quickly at the slightest noise. I don't think she's had an uninterrupted night of sleep in about a year.

"What? What happened?" she stammered, reaching for her glasses.

"You are not going to believe this shit." Emmett sat Nessie down on the bed beside me. "But first, _please_ find a way to explain to your daughter that I'm not a princess. It's embarrassing."

I rolled my eyes. "Come on, Em, it's not that big of a deal. So what's going on?"

"The label is doubling us up. We have another band staying with us." He rubbed his face with one hand, looking more aggitated than I had seen him since... Well, since I had told him I was pregnant, actually. "And given our luck for the day, I'll only give you one guess who it is."

Dread sank into my stomach like a rock. There was only one band - or one group of people, at all, really - that could affect Emmett like this. I closed my eyes, breathing deep, resisting the urge to hurl.

"It's Seattle Thorn, isn't it?" I asked after a moment.

Emmett nodded. "And apparently we're stuck with them. No matter how long this takes to sort out."

I shook my head. Nessie climbed into my lap, leaning back against my chest, and I wrapped my arms around her tightly. "They're _all_ here?"

"No." Emmett shook his head and my spirits lifted a bit. "Rose isn't here. Yet. I've been assured she's coming though," he added sarcastically.

My hopes plummeted again. So _he_ was here. I was stuck in this house with him and...

I looked down at Nessie, who looked like she was about to go back to sleep. I guessed the chaos that had likely ensued downstairs had woken her from her nap.

What was I going to do?

I had to get hold of Jacqui.

Jacqui and the band went way back. She had been a fan practically since day one, coming to all of our little local shows, helping us with merchandise and crappy homemade demo CDs... She pretty much ran the product table at our shows for a little over a year. She was our biggest cheerleader.

Around the time we signed with Unwound Records, she found out she was pregnant. She was a year under us, and still in high school. She had been absolutely certain that she and the father were going to be together forever...and then everything just started to fall apart. Mainly because he was a giant asshole. So now she was single, and her son, Robert, was about a year older than Nessie.

That was why I had run to her when I found out. She had helped me through everything. Well, really, she was the only one who _could_. She was the only one who knew _everything_.

I pulled out my phone, accessing the Twitter app and scanning my feed. It looked like she was online. I typed out a quick message.

_ vermillionbells: therestisdetail you're not going to believe this. I'm stuck in a house indefinitely with HIM._

"Who are you messaging?" Emmett asked. I waved him off.

"I thought Carlisle said we should limit contact?" Angela sounded worried. The poor girl was constantly afraid of getting in trouble, even by association, which was actually pretty silly, since she technically worked for _me_, not the label.

And besides, I didn't think Carlisle would throw a shit fit over me tweeting someone. As long as I was careful not to say where I was.

"It'll be fine," I said out loud. My phone beeped and I looked down at it. Jacqui was so speedy.

_ therestisdetail: vermillionbells NO. what is happening?!_

I ignored Angela's slight protests and started typing, careful of how to phrase it.

_ vermillionbells: therestisdetail you've heard about the leak, right? well, the label's shacked us all up. _I sent that, and then realized I hadn't actually asked her anything. What was she supposed to say to that? I quickly typed a follow-up. vermillionbells: _ therestisdetail I have no idea what I'm supposed to do about this._

_ therestisdetail: vermillionbells have you seen him yet?! has he said something to you? do you think he would suspect anything?_

_ vermillionbells: therestisdetail No. And I don't know. It's pretty obvious to look at her but...I mean, I haven't talked to him since._

_ therestisdetail: vermillionbells omg. you said you're shacked up... is there any way for me to come see you?_

I thought about that. It would be a huge relief to have Jacqui here. I felt myself calm down a little just considering it. But I wasn't sure how she fell into the whole "laying low" idea.

_ vermillionbells: therestisdetail I'll have to check with C. We're on lock-down. I hope so. You'd do that?_

_ therestisdetail: vermillionbells OF COURSE. until further notice, just take baby steps. start out with being in the same room as him, but without her around. that might cause unnecessary questions._

She had a point. Of course, Nessie had been with Emmett, and if Emmett had seen them, there was a good chance _they_ had seen _her_. So that damage might already be done. Still, it was pretty sound advice, and it couldn't hurt anything to follow it.

Even if the idea of being in the same room with him made me nervous as hell.

_ vermillionbells: therestisdetail good idea. Alright, I'll ask C. It'd be a huge help to have you out here. Plus, you'd get to see vermillionem. ;)_

Jacqui had such a crush on Emmett. He pretended to be annoyed by it, but I was pretty sure he secretly enjoyed the attention. He was nice enough to her, anyway.

_ therestisdetail: vermillionbells you sold me at vermillionem! ;) anything I can do to help. stay strong!_

I exhaled deeply. Easier said than done.

I looked up to find Emmett and Angela looking at me expectantly. I smiled at them as Emmett's phone pinged. He pulled it out of his pocket and pushed a few buttons. After a second he raised his eyebrows, a smile tugging at his lips.

"Jacqui's coming?" he asked.

I shrugged. "If Carlisle says it's okay. I don't know if we're allowed to have visitors."

"Excellent. We'll have them outnumb..." He trailed off halfway through his sentence, still scrolling through his phone. His eyebrows practically disappeared into his hairline and he raised his eyes to me, his jaw slack. "_It's obvious to look at her?_" His voice was practically a full octave higher than it had been previously.

Crap. I should've thought about that before I used his actual username.

"Isabella... Marie... Swan. Are you telling me that..." He didn't seem able to form a complete sentence. "Is... _He's_..."

"Emmett, calm down."

He opened and closed his mouth a few times. Angela whipped her head from side to side, looking between the two of us in alarm. After a moment she acted, coming over and taking Nessie from me and leaving the room.

It was quiet for a few more seconds as Emmett struggled to make a sound. Finally, his face red with effort and probably anger, his hands balled into fists at his side, he blurted out: "_Princess words!_"

And then he turned on his heel, stalking from the room and slamming the door behind him.

X

**AN**: Goodness. Well, I guess I'll turn it over to you guys now. Thoughts and such?


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